Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

These peanut butter oatmeal cookies are chewy drop cookies made with creamy peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, old-fashioned rolled oats and chopped roasted peanuts. One batch makes 24 cookies in about 57 minutes, and 30 of those minutes are the dough resting in the fridge.

That chill is the whole trick. Cold dough holds its shape in the oven, so you get thick cookies with golden edges and soft centers instead of flat, greasy discs.

One Batch: 24 Cookies in Under an Hour

• Yield: 24 cookies, from heaping tablespoons of dough
• Time: 15 minutes prep, 30 minutes chilling, 10 to 12 minutes baking
• Oven: 350°F (175°C), parchment-lined sheets, cookies 2 inches apart
• Sugar ratio: ¾ cup (150g) packed brown sugar to ¼ cup (50g) granulated, 3 to 1
• Oats: 1½ cups (135g) old-fashioned rolled oats to 1¼ cups (160g) flour
• Keeps: about 5 days airtight, 2 months in the freezer

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Choosing the Peanut Butter

Use 1 cup (240g) of creamy peanut butter. Regular or natural both work. Skip the no-stir refrigerated kinds, which make the dough stiff.

With a natural jar, stir until the oil is completely mixed back in before you measure. If you scoop from the top you get mostly oil, and that loose oil makes the dough greasy and the cookies spread. Crunchy peanut butter works too. The chopped peanuts already add crunch, so you can cut them back a little.

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What the Brown Sugar, Eggs and Oats Each Do

Brown sugar holds moisture, so the 3 to 1 ratio keeps these chewy for days and adds a light caramel taste. The granulated sugar crisps the edges. Want crisper cookies? Swap a few tablespoons of the brown sugar for white.

Two large eggs bind the oats and flour so the cookies do not crumble. Baking soda lets the dough spread just a little and gives a tender bite. The ¼ teaspoon of salt matters even with salted peanuts, because it sharpens the peanut flavor. Cinnamon is optional, and ½ teaspoon is enough to warm the cookie without hiding the peanut butter.

Spoon the flour into the cup and level it, or weigh 160g. Flour scooped straight from the bag packs in extra, and oat cookies turn dry fast.

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Old-Fashioned vs Quick Oats in This Dough

Old-fashioned rolled oats are thick flakes that stay whole through mixing and baking. They give the chewy, nubbly texture these cookies are known for.

Quick oats are cut thinner, so they soak up more moisture and almost disappear into the dough. If that is all you have, use the same 1½ cups (135g). Expect a flatter, softer, more cake-like cookie with less chew. Steel-cut oats do not soften in 12 minutes and stay hard, so leave them for breakfast. For another oat dough with the same chew, try these oatmeal raisin cookies.

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Mixing and Chilling the Oat Dough

Beat the butter, peanut butter and both sugars on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until creamy and lighter in color. Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a second bowl and add them slowly, mixing just until no dry flour shows. Stir in the oats and peanuts last.

Cover the bowl and chill for 30 minutes. The butter firms up and the flour and oats take on liquid, so the dough scoops cleanly and spreads less. Baking in batches? Keep the rest of the dough in the fridge between trays.

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Chewy or Crispy: Reading the 10 to 12 Minute Window

Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line the sheets with parchment. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough, a medium cookie scoop is easiest, and leave 2 inches between them.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the centers look just set. At 10 minutes the middles still look a little puffy and soft. Leave them on the hot sheet for 5 minutes and they finish into chewy centers. At 12 minutes you get crisper edges and a firmer bite. Move them to a wire rack to cool completely.

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If the Cookies Come Out Flat, Dry or Crumbly

• Flat and greasy: the dough was warm, the chill was skipped, or natural peanut butter was not stirred. Chill the next tray for 15 minutes.
• Dry and hard: too much flour or too long in the oven. Weigh the flour and pull the cookies at 10 minutes.
• Dough crumbles when you scoop: it is very cold or slightly overfloured. Let it sit 5 minutes and press each scoop together in your hand.
• Cakey and puffed: usually quick oats, or the dough was beaten hard after the flour went in. Mix the flour in just until combined.

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Storing and Freezing Peanut Butter Oat Cookies

Once completely cool, keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for about 5 days. A slice of bread in the tin helps them stay soft.

They freeze well for up to 2 months. Freeze them flat on a tray first, then move them to a freezer bag so they do not stick together. Thaw on the counter for about 30 minutes and they are chewy again. You can also freeze scooped dough balls and bake them straight from frozen, adding a minute or two to the time.

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Peanuts or Chocolate Chips, and What to Bake Next

The card uses ½ cup chopped roasted peanuts. They double the peanut flavor and add crunch, and that is my pick for lunchboxes. Swap in the same amount of chocolate chips for a sweeter cookie that tastes close to my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. If you like oats with chocolate, the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are the next bake.

For a bigger peanut butter spread, set these out with a Reese’s peanut butter cake and a tray of peanut butter blossom cookies. When you want no oats at all, there are easy peanut butter cookies and 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies. For a flourless oat version, see these oat flour peanut butter cookies.

Are these the same as no-bake oatmeal peanut butter cookies?

No. These are baked drop cookies with flour and eggs. The peanut butter no bake cookies are boiled on the stove and set on the counter.